Harman translates Kafka book

Krysten Jones
Assistant Features Editor

The art of translating a book lies in the ability not simply to copy words from one language to another but to bring those words to life for the reader.
Mark Harman, associate professor of modern languages and English, recently finished his translation of Franz Kafka’s novel “The Missing Person (Amerika).” The entire process took four years and the manuscript was finally sent to the publisher Friday.
Harman views Kafka as one of the greats of the modern era, yet none of the author’s works were published during his lifetime. While the novel was previously translated by others, Harman hopes this new translation will give “a closer reading of the text that he left.”
In translating “The Missing Person (Amerika),” Harman paid very close attention to what may be considered mistakes by many. Kafka was born in Prague and had never seen America even though the novels centers on an immigrant’s travels in the country.
“Some of the things Kafka wrote may have been mistakes – but they may have been purposeful mistakes,” Harman said.
While writing the translation, Harman spent four weeks in Ledig House, an international writers’ colony on the Art Omi campus at Ghent in the Hudson Valley. During his stay, he was able to work on the translation as well as meet with writers and translators from six countries.
“I want the reader to hear him [Kafka] as he wrote rather than polishing it in a way he didn’t,” Harman said.
Besides being a literary translator, Harman is also considered a Kafka scholar.
He spent many years studying the works of Kafka and wrote his dissertation at Yale on a comparison of Kafka and Heinrich von Kleist.
Previously, Harman published translations of other works by Kafka, including “The Castle” in 1998. He has also translated works by Herman Hesse and Robert Walser and many shorter pieces by various contemporary authors.
Harman feels that in all literary translations, there is a challenge to find a style that is analogous to the original writer’s style. At the same time, though, he likes to bring a creative side to the translation so as to always produce something new and different.
“My role in this process is to open things up for the reader while conveying my enthusiasm of the writer,” Harman said. “Translating is like a performance in a different medium.”
Harman faced challenges specifically with style while working on this Kafka novel. Harman views Kafka’s writing style as very precise, filled with description and detail, but also flowing. Difficulties existed for Harman in replicating and achieving a comparable version in English.
Harman will be teaching the honors seminar Irony, Humor and Despair next semester which will cover many of the techniques used in translation and modern literature through the works of various authors including Kafka.

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